Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins today announced payment rates and the enrollment period for the Assistance for Specialty Crops Farmers program. USDA will issue $1.625 billion in payments to eligible specialty crop producers in response to elevated input costs and market disruptions resulting from foreign competitors engaging in unfair trade practices that impeded specialty crop exports.
Producers who have a Login.gov account can access and submit their prefilled application starting June 1. Producers who do not have a Login.gov account or prefer to enroll in person at their local Farm Service Agency office can request their prefilled application beginning June 8. The ASCF enrollment period closes Aug. 7.
“The Trump administration continues to put Farmers First and is committed to ensuring the economic strength of our specialty crop operations as we continue opening new markets abroad and strengthening demand domestically for American produce,” says Rollins. “Building on the success of the Farmer Bridge Assistance program, we are using an expedited program application and payment process through the One Farmer, One File system to ensure specialty crop producers also receive the necessary financial assistance as quickly as possible, while we work to build a more robust market with lower input costs and more opportunities.”
In a post on X, Rollins writes: “California agriculture helps feed America and the world — and today we saw that firsthand at the incredible Allied Potato in Bakersfield, Calif. Alongside one of Congress’ greatest advocates, Rep. David Valadao, I toured the operation, met with farmers and industry leaders and announced new USDA support for specialty crop producers.
“From potatoes and dairy, nuts and fresh produce, California growers are critical to our nation’s food supply. USDA is committed to ensuring they have the tools, markets, and support they need to succeed.”
These payments are authorized under the Commodity Credit Corporation Charter Act and are administered by the FSA. Specialty crop payments are intended to provide financial support to allow producers to pay for production and marketing inputs in the face of significant market disruptions during the 2025 growing season.
How to Apply
Prefilled applications will be available online to producers with a Login.gov account who timely filed their 2025 crop acreage report for eligible specialty crops. Starting June 1, producers who have a Login.gov account can access and submit their prefilled application from fsa.usda.gov/ascf. Beginning June 8, producers can request their prefilled ASCF application from their FSA county office.
The deadline to submit completed ASCF applications is Aug. 7. Producers can complete their applications online or submit them to their FSA county office.
Payments will be issued as applications are submitted and approved, beginning as early as the first week of signup.
Eligibility
Specialty crop acres of eligible crops reported to FSA as an initial, double crop, repeat crop or subsequent crop by April 24 will be used to determine ASCF program payments. Acreage that is reported as a cover crop, prevented planting or with an intended use of grazing, left standing, green manure, silage, forage, volunteer or experimental will not be used to determine ASCF program payments.
For a list of eligible specialty crops, visit fsa.usda.gov/ascf. Specialty crops grown in a controlled environment are not eligible, except for mushrooms.
Crop insurance linkage is not required, however, USDA strongly urges producers to take advantage of the new risk management tools provided in the Working Families Tax Cut Act, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, to best protect against future price risk and volatility.
Login.gov
Login.gov is the public’s one account for government. Producers can use one account and password for secure, private access to participating government agencies, including FSA.
To apply for ASCF online, producers can start by visiting fsa.usda.gov/ascf to create their Login.gov account. Producers who have an existing Login.gov account can work with FSA using their existing account.
With a secure Login.gov account, producers can be among the first to apply for ASCF, allowing them to view, complete, certify and submit their application as well as track their application and payment status.
For assistance creating a Login.gov account, visit login.gov/help.
Payment Calculation
FSA used national average revenue per crop as a metric for developing the ASCF program payment categories and payment rates listed below:
- Tier 1 — $650 per acre; includes eligible specialty crops with an average annual revenue of more than $10,000 per acre.
- Tier 2 — $225 per acre; includes eligible specialty crops with an average annual revenue of more than $2,300 per acre and up to $10,000 per acre.
- Tier 3 — $65 per acre; includes eligible specialty crops with an average annual revenue of up to $2,300 per acre.
- Beans and peas — $25 per acre; includes all types of beans and peas that were not eligible for the Farmer Bridge Assistance program.
The ASCF payment limitation is $250,000. For a full list of eligible crops under each category, as well as information on how revenue per acre was calculated, visit fsa.usda.gov/ascf.
Behind the Data
On the eve of the announcement, Richard Fordyce, USDA undersecretary for farm programs and conservation, spoke with AgriTalk’s Michelle Rook about the process of setting these rates.
“It took us a bit of time to get to the point where we were able to announce those payment rates,” Fordyce says. “We had to do the acreage reporting first, and that was an eight-week period where we were working with specialty crop farmers. Some of those were pretty straightforward. Some of those were fairly complicated. So, it took a bit of time to get those acreage reports done.”
He says once they knew the universe of acres, and how many dollars were available to put into the program, then USDA could set the payment rates.
“We worked as quickly as we could to get that done,” Fordyce says. “I know some folks thought it was taking a long time and it did, but there was a reason for that.”
This announcement follows the row crop version — the Farmer Bridge Assistance program — which started paying out several months early. Fordyce says part of the reason for the quicker turnaround was simply due to data availability.
“We had access to tons of data that informed the decisions for the payment rates under the Farmer Bridge Assistance program,” Fordyce adds. “There are publicly traded markets. The Economic Research Service does cost of production calculations all the time. So, we knew what the cost of production was and what prices folks were able to get for those crops.”
Specialty crops include a much larger footprint.
“The Farmer Bridge Assistance program included 30 Title I crops originally,” Fordyce says. “We have over 300 crops in the assistance for specialty crop farmers. So, there was a lot more work, really a lot more data gathering that needed to take place, which just took a lot more time.”
Even as the money goes out the door, with the current financial challenges exacerbated by the conflict with Iran and rising fuel and fertilizer costs, there’s talk about the need for more help.
“We talk to farmers, and it’s across the board, whether you’re growing corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, rice or specialty crops, there’s still pretty razor-thin to negative margins compared to what it costs to plant the crop and what that crop is worth,” Fordyce says. “I would defer to Senate [Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry] Chairman [John] Boozman and [House Committee on Agriculture] Chairman [Glenn “GT”] Thompson as to what Congress feels is right, but we are hearing that there certainly is a need for some assistance.”
More information on ASCF is available online at fsa.usda.gov/ascf. Producers can also contact their local FSA county office.
